iTunes Editors’ Notes

Kurt Cobain's tragic suicide so early in what could have been a long, brilliant career forced everyone involved with Nirvana to tread carefully on the band’s legacy. Infighting among the remaining band members and Cobain’s estate further stalled progress. Live albums appeared, but there was little else in terms of new Cobain music between 1994 and 2002. In 2004—a decade after his death—the wheels finally cranked out the expansive box set With the Lights Out, containing rare b-sides, live performances, demos, and even rougher rehearsal recordings. Considering Nirvana only released three official studio albums and a set of outtakes during its existence, the amount of previously unreleased material was much smaller than bands with more years to reference. Many brilliant moments here center on Cobain’s acoustic demos. The set is essentially chronological, starting with the Bleach era, following through to the Nevermind period and finishing with songs from the In Utero sessions. Serious fans need this collection, for in many ways it provides the most comprehensive and true view of the band.

Customer Reviews

Greatest Nirvana Collection IMO

by
Neverwar

The thing about this boxed set, is that it's not for casual Nirvana listeners or people who just want to get into them. This is some deep stuff here. The recordings are very bare bones and can sometimes be extremely terrible. There's a lot of screaming and wailing and pure rage that Kurt and the band puts out. It takes a bit to realize that this is exactly what makes this collection great. The pure, unrestrained recording of Kurt's dark personality comes out through these tracks, and I much prefer most of the demo versions of these songs to their polished counterparts. This is roots grunge. This is what it sounds like to live one day of Kurt's short life, however screwed up it was. Needless to say, this is definitely a must have for the NIrvana die-hard, and any of those wishing to feel like their soul has been ripped out and stomped on many, many times. A black, nasty gem I am proud to have in my collection.

Booyah!

by
Kurt Cobain

Finally, my Nirvana collection is complete! Love Nirvana! RIP Kurt.

What

by
Kickem'Back

Isn't this on iTunes already...for less money...and with more songs...?

5 stars for Nirvana though

Biography

Formed: 1987 in Aberdeen, WA

Genre: Rock

Years Active: '80s, '90s

Prior to Nirvana, alternative music was consigned to specialty sections of record stores, and major labels considered it to be, at the very most, a tax write-off. After the band's second album, 1991's Nevermind, nothing was ever quite the same, for better and for worse. Nirvana popularized punk, post-punk, and indie rock, unintentionally bringing them into the American mainstream like no other band to date. While their sound was equal parts Black Sabbath (as learned by fellow Washington underground...